Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Adventures in Scaldwater Bay, session 02

CHARACTERS
H'Qha (Steve) - a half-orc, sent here by others but interested in the possibility that his background is somehow tied to this place
Seemorph (Joe) - an elven ranger, he's got a think for ruins and the talk on the coast was this place had ruins....and lots of treasure

Mitrum (Tim) - human cleric of the ancient god Moloch, a deity most noted for being pro-child sacrifice, he has heard rumors of ruins near Scaldwater Bay that might be related to Moloch

Prior to this session, extensive conversation was had on the importance of the group name and it was decided Scaldwater Shockers was fitting for our merry band of ne'er do wells. I took it upon myself to quickly create a team logo. The group heartily approved of the logo and I believe Joe said he was getting put on his shield or armor. Good times. ;-)

THE WAGON RIDE
We picked up immediately where we left off last week. The boys were in the back of Bronn and Galan's wagon, heading out to the orchard, about a two hour ride via a trail that traversed the winding hills west of Scaldwater. An hour in, Bronn was happy to announce they were now on the slack side of the storm and were heading into a reprieve. He stated that the storm would weaken over the next couple of hours and clear up for about twelve, before coming back down from the mountains. This was a battle between the sea bitch Ampherus and the mountain god Brugga, as Bronn explained.

ODD STATUES
Bronn alerted the group, riding in the back of the covered wagon, that something new had appeared along the southern edge of the trail. Off the trail about 100 feet were pure two white statues. From the trail, the group could see these appeared to not have been out in the weather. One squatted on one knee and the other was standing. Curious, the group dismounted and realized as they approached there was actually a third statue. This one was laying flat on the ground under a lean-to. The other two statues, a kneeling one holding a bow and the other standing but apparently having fallen over and was leaning precariously against a tree, had been exposed to the weather. They lacked detailed features, as if the hard rain has eaten away the details. The one under the lean-to still maintained the details: a hardy looking warrior with massive lamb chop sideburns.

The statues were made of some sort of soft, white stone, a pumice-like stone that rubbed off like chalk when touched. H'Qha kicked the leaning statue, cracking it in the torso. This revealed that the inside was not a solid...poured...shaped stones could be seen inside. While the group looked around for footprints, tools, equipment, etc they discovered an old campfire nearby. Mitrum twisted the head off the laid down statue, removed the top of the head, and broke off and crumbled part of the stony brain-shaped rock inside, grounding it down to a powered and keeping it safe in a leather pouch.

Deciding they had uncovered everything they could, the group opted to return to Bronn's wagon, as they did they spotted a small figure on the ridge above the wagon. Camouflaged in a green and brown cloak, the figure studied them a moment and then rapidly began moving away up the ridge. Seemorph and H'Qha aimed shots at figure but missed horribly. The figure moved up higher, eventually encountered two other being similarly dressed, conversed, and then disappeared into the forest. Frustrated but far more cautious, the group continued along the trail.

AMBUSH!
Seemorph's caution paid off. Walking ahead of the group, off the trail and among the trees, he spotted a cloaked figure waiting in ambush. He alerted the group and let arrows fly. He dropped a enemy. H'Qha and Mitrum took cover behind the wagon as arrows rained down the trail from atop the ridge and cliffs on the north side of the road. Mistakenly thinking he was covered, an arrow lodged in Mitrum back, in the shoulder area.
A moment later another one of these short bluish humanoids - Gobblers - charged out of the bush and engaged Mitrum in deadly combat. Seemorph killed another in the bushes. H'Qha engaged the arrow shooters high up on the cliff. The fight was short, brutal, and unfortunately, deadly. Mitrum took a particularly deadly strike in the gut, felling him on the trail. A moment later and all the Gobblers were down.THE GROTTO

map by me!

The heroes breathed a sigh of relief and Seemorph quickly pillaged the Gobblers and their late friend. He's a bastard. The collected gear was placed on Bronn's wagon. H'Qha noted the grotto on the north side of the road, something caught his attention.

Bronn stated he would travel up to the orchard, collect his apples, and return, promising to hold on to the gear for the group so they might sell it back in Scaldwater Bay. Tim, not to be saddened by the sudden death of Mitrum, rolled up a new a character, an elf. We decided he had been wandering along the trail in search of "Adventure!" and he joined the two surviving members of the Shockers.

The grotto was small, about 35 feet wide and twenty deep. On the left a large grey stone statue, clearly having been in this location for a long time, stood on a raised, round dais. He knelt in a battle stance behind a large shield and held a spear pointed forward, parallel to the ground. He stood over eight foot tall while kneeling. Before him were what appeared to be two benches, cracked and broken from decades or hundreds of years of neglect. Behind the benches were scattered the remains of a plaque, the group managed to piece together. Oddly, H'Qha could make out and understand some of the letters. He could not understand why he could read these, though they seemed familiar to him.

SESSION END

DM NOTES

This session went very good. I think the group meshes well together, we are here for fun and a good time and everyone is in line with that.

I have always thought I had a 'loose DMing' style, using the rules as a base but adjudicating much of the details of combat, tracking, etc on the fly on the game does not slow down. I like DMing this way, I hope my players do. Example: Player says he will duck behind a bushes for cover but still keep an eye on the enemy he spotted. Enemy looks his way, does he see the character? Are there rules for this? Probably, but I am not looking them up. I decide he sees the character on a 2 in 6 and roll with it.

After being a player for a bit I decided I was not going to 'fudge' rolls at all for 'the story'. I would play the baddies like they mean it and let the dice stay where they land. Hence, Tim's character death.

One cue I am taking from the game Tim runs is that characters will gain experience based on a few things, but mostly from coin spent. As a player I have seen first hand how this effects the game and I like it. SO I will be giving out XP for killing shit, roleplaying in excellent fashion, and being creative in your endeavors, but the bulk of XP will likely from finding stuff, selling it in town, and then spending coin.